Isabel Ibáñez

I really liked the worldbuilding - magic, dragons, and the integration of Spanish! Dragonador immediately had my interest for the unique spin on matadors

I couldn’t take Arturo’s barbed mouth at times. No one is going to kiss your behind, sir. But after he defrosted, he was all right. Zarela never failed to call him out for it too. More importantly, I enjoyed Zarela’s spunk and stubbornness. I was always rooting for her. How she cared for her family estate and its workers was done well.

One pet peeve on character descriptions: So many characters are referred to as having dark black skin. Visually what does this look like? Skin the color of ink toner or midnight? Because some characters have brown skin, this must mean something else culturally.

Overall, I enjoyed my reading experience. But I would've given this 5 stars if the author hadn't killed off the dad. This is what pissed me off with Wakanda Forever too the female character has already gone through so much and you make her an orphan :/ Still worth reading though!… (mere)

What The River Knows is a delightful historical fantasy set in the 19th Century. Our protagonist, young Inez Olivera, flouts all societal conventions and travels to Egypt by herself, hoping to discover the fates of her archaeologist parents who are missing, presumed dead. She meets up with her uncle, also an archaeologist, and thus begins a tale of magic, wonder, discovery, romance, murder, and betrayal.

Written in a clean, engaging, straightforward style, what The River Knows is a lovely book. Inez is a strong, independent woman and it is from her perspective that readers get most of the story. We learn of her resolve, her angers, her fears, her doubts, her desires. She is a very human character, likeable despite her flaws. The characters surrounding her are well-portrayed as well.

The magical elements of the story, and the lovingly researched Egyptian elements included for flavor, are delicious. The story also contains one or two incidents that are very dark, shockingly so. Well done. And that ending: utterly unexpected and flabbergasting. I will most certainly need to read the next volume of Inez Olivero's adventures.

Isabel Ibañez is a writer I will be keeping an eye on. A very enjoyable reading experience traveling down the Nile in this novel. I'm willing to wager that other books by Ibañez will provide thrills as well.… (mere)